forensics ii case 1: questioned documents · 2020. 2. 7. · questioned documents: ! any document...
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Forensics II Case 1: Questioned Documents
Questioned Documents: ! Any document about which some issue
has been raised or that is the subject of an investigation.
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
! Checks ! Licenses and Certificates ! Passports ! (Counterfeit) Money ! Receipts ! Lottery tickets ! Historical documents ! Ransom and suicide notes ! Forgeries of Art
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Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
Document Examiners: ! Mostly examine handwriting to originate its source or
its authenticity
! Will also examine typed writings, computer printings, photocopies, inks, papers, and forgeries, and decode altered and charred documents
! May need to use microscopes, photographs, chromatography, and other lab examinations on the questioned documents
! Many work in federal, local, and state crime labs, but they may also work in private practices
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
Handwriting:
! Two individuals cannot have exactly identical handwriting
! Since handwriting is associated with mechanical, physical, and mental functions, it is almost impossible to reproduce exactly
! Handwriting can be almost as individual as a person’s fingerprint
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
! A positive comparison must be based on an ample number of common characteristics between known and questioned writings
! Collecting a lot of exemplars (known writings) is critical in order to make a comparison
! Exemplars should contain some of the same words or combinations of letters that are present in the questioned document(s)
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
Two writings came from one person if: ! their similarities are unique and ! no unexplainable difference(s) are found Steps
1. Examine the questionable document for detectable traits and record them
2. Obtain a known sample of the suspect’s writing (an exemplar) 3. Compare and draw conclusions about the authorship of the
questionable document
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
12 Handwriting Characteristics (Exemplars)
Examiners use 12 factors to determine authen4city:
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
1. Line quality: Are the lines smooth, free-flowing? Or shaky and wavering?
2. Spacing: Are the letters and words equally spaced or crowded?
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
3) Size consistency: Examine the relative height, width and size of letters. Is it consistent?
4) Continuous: Is the writing continuous or does the writer lift the pen?
• Forgeries may have lifts or separations in unusual places, such as within a letter
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
5) Connecting letters: Compare the strokes between upper and lower case letters. Are they connected?
6) Letters complete: Look at beginning and ending strokes. Are letters completely formed? Are parts missing?
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
7) Cursive and printed letters: Are there printed letters, cursive letters, or both?
8) Pen pressure: Differing amounts of pressure used by the writer can make lines light or dark, narrow or wide. Is pressure equal when applied to upward and downward strokes?
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
9) Slant: analyzing the writing slant- left, right, straight, or variable?
10) Line habits: are the writer’s letters on, above, or below the baseline?
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
11) Fancy curls or loops: Are there any fancy letters, curls, loops, circles, or other embellishments?
12) Letter characteristics: Are t’s crossed in the middle, towards the top, or bottom? Where is the placement of the dot (or circle, heart, etc.) above lowercase i’s?
Factors that affect handwriting samples:
1. Position of writer (sitting or standing)
2. Position of Document (flat, vertical or horizontal surface)
3. Other Factors (under the influence of drugs, illness or injury)
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
4. Type of writing instrument
5. Writing surface
6. Underlying surface
7. Mood of writer
8. Age of writer
9. Writing speed
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample using the 12 exemplars
Analysis of the Tops & Bottoms of Letters and the Slants of Letters
! Draw a dot at the top of each letter and connect the dots
! Draw a line through the center of each letter (maintaining the slant of the letter)
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample by analyzing tops & bottoms of letters and the Slants of letters
Forgery ! Forged documents include: ! checks ! employment records ! legal agreements ! licenses ! wills
! Fraudulence—forgery for material gain
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Check Forgery ! Americans write 70 billion checks per year –
approximately $27 million illegitimate checks are cashed each day.
! Check forgery can include: ! ordering another’s checks from a deposit slip ! altering a check ! intercepting another’s check, altering, and
cashing it ! creating a check from scratch
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Preventing Check Forgery ! Chemically sensitive paper
! Large font size requires more ink and makes alterations more difficult
! High resolution borders that are difficult to copy
! Multiple color patterns
! Embed fibers that glow under different light
! Use chemical wash detection systems that change color when a check is altered
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Literary Forgery
! Forgery of a piece of writing such as a historic letter or manuscript is literary
forgery.
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Analyzing Ink • Chromatography is a method of physically separating the
components of inks. Types
HPLC—high-performance liquid chromatography TLC—thin-layer chromatography Paper chromatography
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample by analyzing chromatography results
Paper Chromatography of Ink
Example: Two samples of black ink from two different manufacturers have been characterized using paper chromatography.
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample by analyzing chromatography results
Retention Factor (Rf)
§ A number that represents how far a compound travels in a particular solvent
§ It is determined by measuring the distance the compound traveled and dividing it by the distance the solvent traveled.
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample by analyzing chromatography results
Objectives: You will determine the origin of a writing sample by analyzing chromatography results
DO NOW:
Pick up a lab from front desk.
Go to lab tables,(No more than 4 People at the table!)
Carefully read over lab and begin!
Counterfeiting ! A criminal activity existing since antiquity
! Items commonly forged today include: ! Currency ! Traveler’s checks ! Food stamps ! Certain bonds ! Postage stamps
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Counterfeit Currency
! Security features are added to paper currency that scanning cannot reproduce
! Regular printer paper contains starch; Paper currency contains rag fiber instead of starch. ! Number one reason people suspect
fakes is because it doesn’t feel right.
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
! Check forgery can include: ! ordering another’s checks from a
deposit slip ! altering a check ! intercepting another’s check, altering,
and cashing it ! creating a check from scratch
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Intaglio Printing
! Intaglio printing process is used for the black print on the front side of the notes and the green print on the back side.
! Treasury seal, Federal Reserve seal, and serial numbers are printed by a typographic or letterpress process
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Intaglio Photocopied Counterfeit
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Serial Numbers ! two serial numbers printed in green ink on the face of each
note.
! No two notes of the same series, bank, and denomination have the same serial number.
! The Federal Reserve banks are designated by a letter and a corresponding numeral. The first character of the serial number is a letter that designates the Federal Reserve Bank and matches the letter in the Federal reserve seal.
! Corresponding numerical designation of the Federal Reserve Bank is printed in four locations on the face of each note.
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
! Currency is always being redesigned to make it more difficult to counterfeit.
! New bills: ! $20 – October 9, 2003 ! $50 – September 28, 2004 ! $10 – March 2, 2006 ! $5 – Early 2008
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Authentic vs. Counterfeit The tiny, intricate lines and details on paper money do not
always print well in counterfeit bills.
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Verifying Authentic Currency
New Security Features:
1. Portrait stands out and appears raised off the paper
2. Contains clear red and blue fibers woven throughout the bill
3. Has clear, distinct border edges
4. Treasury seal is shown with clear, sharp saw-tooth points
5. Watermark appears on the right side of the bill in the light
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
6. The security thread is evident—a thin embedded vertical strip with the denomination of the bill printed in it
7. There is minute printing on the security threads, as well as around the portrait
8. When the bill is tilted, the number in the lower right-hand corner makes a color shift from copper to green
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Examples of Security Features
Objectives: You will determine the measures used to prevent forgery and counterfeiting
Shredded Material Recovery ! The purpose of our
work was to turn bags of shredded documents like these...
Objectives: You will determine how Forensic document examiners reconstruct shredded documents
Shredded Material Recovery
! Into legible documents like these...
Objectives: You will determine how Forensic document examiners reconstruct shredded documents
Shredded Material Recovery ! Which involved separation of individual
shreds from the pile and re-assembling them piece by piece.
Objectives: You will determine how Forensic document examiners reconstruct shredded documents
Shredded Material Recovery ! Each bag of shredded paper contained an
average of 100 recoverable documents.
Objectives: You will determine how Forensic document examiners reconstruct shredded documents